Sean Turner’s death was followed by more at the Bristol Royal, including that of seven-year-old Luke Jenkins, who died in April 2012, just three weeks after

As they snuggled up to their son for this happy family snap, Yolanda and Steve Turner could never have imagined how important the ­photograph would prove to be.

For it now serves as precious proof of how much four-year-old Sean loved a cuddle – and a terribly painful reminder that they will never hug him again.

Their little Spider-Man fan died on March 15, 2012, while being cared for after a heart operation at the scandal-hit Bristol Royal Children’s Hospital.

Before the op he had excitedly told pals doctors were going to “mend his heart”.

“I love all my children equally,” says mum-of-five Yolanda, 45.

“They bring out different emotions with the things they do and say.

“For me, Sean loved his cuddles. When he wasn’t off being a superhero, he loved to sit on my lap and snug into me.

“It was our time. And I would give ­anything to have one more cuddle, to kiss his face and stroke his hair.”

Instead she is preparing for her youngest’s inquest, due to start tomorrow.

It will be the second inquest in two months that looks into the death of a child at the hospital’s heart unit, and in particular, the children’s cardiac Ward 32.

Sean’s death was shockingly followed by more at the Bristol Royal, says Yolanda, including that of seven-year-old Luke Jenkins, who died in April 2012, just three weeks after she lost her boy.

Luke’s parents have fought with Yolanda and ­carpenter Steve, 47, to get the hospital’s trust to reveal the full truth about the state of the Royal Bristol and the alleged poor practices, which they believe caused their sons’ deaths.

The hospital’s heart unit is facing legal action over at least 10 cases, in which children suffering from heart problems died or were left damaged following ­alleged blunders and neglect since 2008.

Sean was born with his heart on the right side of his body and blocked arteries between his heart and lungs.

He had his first operation in September 2007 when he was just six days old.

By the time he was four, he had ­undergone more surgery, but cardio­logists told Yolanda and Steve his operation in 2012 would see him through to his 30s.

On January 10 that year, the Turners, of Warminster, Wilts, met with heart surgeon Andrew Parry at the hospital to discuss a procedure called Fontan surgery which would help Sean’s heart work more efficiently.

Mr Parry said the op would take up to five hours, after which Sean would spend about four days in intensive care and would go home after about two weeks.

But Sean never went home.

He spent eight weeks in hospital after his operation when the Turners say his care veered from shambolic to scandalous, and lead to their boy’s death.

Yolanda told the Sunday People: “Mr Parry said it was the right time for Sean to have the op as he was so fit and well.

“We were told Sean would have it in spring and would need to attend a pre-op clinic, where he would have an ECG, chest X-ray and blood tests.”

But on January 23, the couple were called by Mr Parry’s secretary to say there had been a cancellation.

They were asked to bring in Sean the next day. There was no time for a full pre-op clinic.

Yolanda says: “When I collected Sean from school that afternoon, he was so excited.

"His teacher said he’d been telling his friends that once the doctors had mended his heart, he wouldn’t get tired so easily and would be able to play like them and walk all the way to school.”

Sean had his surgery after a few tests on January 24 and his anxious parents were told it had gone well.

But just 18 hours after the op, the lad was transferred from the paediatric ­intensive care unit (PICU) to Ward 32.

When Yolanda asked why Sean was being moved from intensive care, she was told the bed was needed for another child.

“I was assured he would be given a high dependency bed in Ward 32 and be well cared for,” she says, with a grimace.

Within hours, Sean began vomiting and was unable to keep water down.

He had a raging thirst, but nurses told his parents this was typical after such a procedure.

When urgent tests showed fluid had built up around his heart, Sean was taken back to theatre that afternoon to have it removed and a drain inserted.

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Controversy: Bristol Royal Hospital for Children

Yolanda says: “I pleaded with the ­doctors for Sean to be taken back to PICU but we were told he wasn’t critically ill enough and could be cared for on Ward 32.”

But as his health continued to deteriorate, Sean was returned to PICU where he stayed for 11 days before going back to Ward 32.

Yolanda recalls: “At one point, he was so thirsty he was sucking water out of his flannel and paper towels I was using to cool him down.

"I asked nurses for him to have water but they said he couldn’t have above 10mls an hour – yet they were not ­monitoring his fluid levels.

“By January 29, he was extremely dehydrated with a soaring heart rate.

"When the cardiologist Andrew Tometzki asked how long he had been like that, nurses said they didn’t know.”

Over the following weeks medics discovered Sean had a blood clot on his kidneys and high blood pressure.

On February 16, the little lad had a heart attack as he lay in his frantic dad’s arms.

“Steve screamed for help but the doctor nearby just froze,” says Yolanda.

Sean survived, but his health continued to deteriorate and his devoted mum and dad rarely left his bedside.

“We’d sing his favourite song – She’ll be Coming Round the Mountain – read him stories, rub his feet when they were cold, stroke his hair and reassure him,” says Yolanda.

But as they kept their vigil, the worried couple say they witnessed "a ­catalogue of errors" in Sean’s care.

They claim staff failed to meet even basic levels of cleanliness and Sean’s skin was burned after nurses forgot to wipe ­anaesthetic cream from his wrist.

The couple also say an alarm which monitored their son’s oxygen levels was turned down or switched off.

And a femoral line, used to feed Sean his medication, was left in for 18 days, despite guidelines saying they should be inserted for no more than 10.

When the line was removed, it was found to have caused blood ­poisoning and Sean had a massive blood clot.

He was given an anti-clotting drug, but on March 15, there was confusion over its administration, which caused delays.

When Sean eventually received the drug at 4pm, his blood pressure soared and he immediately fell unconscious.

Yolanda says: “I battled to save him, nipping his skin, frantically asking him to wake up, pinching his ear and opening his eyes – but the doctors just said they would look at him on the next ward round.”

Four hours later Sean was taken to the adjoining Bristol Royal Infirmary where a scan revealed he had suffered a fatal brain bleed.

The Turners were told ­nothing more could be done for Sean.

They phoned home and told his siblings – Luke, 24, Daisy, 23, Joseph, 16, and Emily, 12 – that they had to bid their baby brother a final farewell.

Yolanda says: “As they said goodbye, they all cried and stroked his hand.

"Then I climbed on to the bed, stroked his face and lay my hand on his chest, reassuring him all the time that Mummy was there.

“I lay with him as his body quietly shut down. And do you know what the last thing to give up on him was?

"His heart. Despite his heart condition, it was the final thing to give up. He died of a brain haemorrhage.”

Robert Woolley, of University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We offer our sincere condolences to Mr and Mrs Turner for the loss of their son, Sean.

“We aim to do our best for the children and families under our care and are fully committed to working with the coroner to help her investigate the reasons for Sean’s death.”

But the Turners are worried how transparent the hospital will be at the inquest at Flax Bourton, near Bristol.

Yolanda says: “We are placing our trust in the coroner to get to the truth – Sean deserves that.

“I owe it to him to get the truth out.

"The trust owes it to him and the other dead children to be transparent and honest. I hope the coroner will help me realise this wish for Sean.”